Hockey India bans 21 players on disciplinary grounds

Hockey India (HI) Thursday slapped bans ranging from three to six months on 21 players for breaching the code of conduct and bringing disrepute to the sport. Besides imposing the bans on the players, the HI disciplinary committee also banned North Central Railways women’s team manager Pushpa Srivastava for six months and coach Shradha Verma for nine months after the team walked off the field against Haryana XI during the India Invitation Prize Money Women Tournament held on 28th Feb 2014. [caption id=“attachment_1433443” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational Image. Reuters[/caption] The entire 16-member North Central Railways women’s team has also been banned for six months. Punjab and Sind Bank players Sarvanjit Singh and Karamjit Singh and Air India’s Gurpreet Singh were also slapped with a six-month ban for an onfield spat during the 48th All India Bombay Gold Cup Tournament. The altercation resulted in all the three players getting a red card. All the three players will be on probation for a period of one year from October 1 and any repeat incident of such nature will immediately result in another ban of one year. Indian Army’s Bachitter Singh was also slapped with a six-month ban and Namdhari XI Team’s Harpreet Singh got a three-month suspension. Bachitter was punished for physically and verbally assaulting the on-field umpire, Virender Singh during the 3rd All India Sahizada Ajit Singh Hockey Champions Trophy 2013. Harpreet was banned from playing any tournament for a period of three months beginning for getting involved in a disciplinary case. IANS